Splatoon producer on the game’s prototype, plaza, communication; “allows for adaptive playstyles”
USgamer has a new interview up with Splatoon producer Hisashi Nogami. Nogami commented on various topics, ranging from the game’s origins to the type of player Splatoon is aimed at. Additionally, he was asked about how he thinks players will communicate given that voice chat is not included.
You can find a few excerpts from the interview below. The full transcript is located here.
On Splatoon’s origins and how it was conceptualized…
“It started from the concept of not wanting to make a game was too wrapped up in franchises that Nintendo has dealt with before. It’s something that could be on its own. After making that initial decision, we started experimenting with a variety of prototypes and a variety of ideas.”
“The first prototype that got off the ground was made by Mr Sato, a member of the team who’s worked on prior games as a graphics programmer. That prototype included the basic features of Splatoon in that it was a game that players were on teams, competing against one another, and you shot ink and covered the ground. The team that covered the most territory would win. When you sprayed ink on the ground, it was viewable on a map in realtime. But in this prototype, when you viewed the map from above because your character was initially the same color as the ink you’re shooting, you couldn’t see them. This was a bonus feature – when you’re in your own ink the enemy can’t see you.”
“That initial prototype started with characters that weren’t actually characters, they were just blocks. You’d have a white block on one team and a black block on the other, and there wasn’t even that much of a detailed 3D element to the game. But from that point onwards, a variety of different features were added to the game to make it more of a polished Nintendo-style experience, and the characters were built out. That has led to the game that Splatoon is today.”
“Another way of saying this is that the game didn’t really begin from a particular visual look, but instead started from function. What kind of features and functionality do we want to give players? That was the starting off point for Splatoon.”
On the design behind Splatoon’s plaza…
“The plaza is a hub area of sorts – a jumping off point for all the features and modes in the game. Players start out by being dropped into this Plaza, and from there they can choose to jump into online play or explore the single-player mode, or do a bit of shopping to outfit themselves for online play.”
“You’re not alone in the plaza. The other squids you see in the plaza are not just simply NPCs, but actually represent other players that are participating in Splatoon and you can view a bit of their information as well.”
“The goal with populating the plaza in this way is to allow you to bump into players that you either maybe haven’t met before, or someone you just faced off against in battle. But because you can check out their gear they are wearing you can get that kind of information and say “maybe I’m going to emulate his or her style of play”. That was the thought behind the way we populate the plaza.”
“It’s not that we’re trying to force that on every player to say “okay, to get all your information you really have to check each player carefully,” but just more we wanted it to be a natural element of the game. Another way you could see that there is a bunch of different playstyles in this game by looking at what they’re using, and looking at what they’re wearing.”
On what kind of player Splatoon is aimed at…
“One of the main aims the team had in making Splatoon was to make it a game that appealed and was fun to play to a really wide variety of players. That includes players that were familiar with the shooter genre, and to also widen the scope of players who haven’t had as much experience with shooters and make sure they can also pick up the game and enjoy it.”
“That said, it wasn’t that we set out to make a game for people who haven’t played shooters before. That wasn’t the aim. But to have that wide scope while also making a game that would be satisfying for players who are used to ranking up and rising up levels and unlocking new types of things.”
“I feel personally that in their play experiences, the development team have observed that people will really put a lot of thought into how they are playing. So, maybe before I played on the offensive, and this time I’ll play more thoughtfully and hang back and cover the place in ink. And in that way, that Splatoon allows for adaptive playstyles, the game has elements of a sport, and with all the thought we’ve put into the things we’ve mentioned so far, I think it will appeal to e-Sports players.”
“That’s one of the reasons why we’ve included all the variety of weapons and gear that you’ll find in the game. To make a concrete element a more advanced player can sink their teeth into and enjoy.”
“The combinations of weapons and gear supports lots of different playstyles – but it’s accessible to the folks who just want to jump in and run around.”
On Splatoon’s lack of voice communication and how players will communicate…
“In terms of communication in games in general, there are two main types: communication about strategy, and communication about feelings you have while playing at that moment. When that point is applied to this game, one interesting aspect of Splatoon is that the actions you take shooting ink can immediately be seen in the stage you’re playing by yourself and other players, and conversely when you see the actions other players are taking shooting ink, it’s something you can interpret immediately and then base your next actions on that and judging what that means. That’s an important part of the gameplay in Splatoon.”
“In designing the game, we paid special attention to allowing the gameplay to cover a lot of ground for that kind of strategic communication. However we definitely understand the importance players put on that other type of communication that’s more feelings-based.”
“And so because we understand that desire for players to have that kind of emotional communication, we can imagine players using some way or another to achieve that extra layer of communication while playing the game.”
